


One Call Away

by gemgirl28



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang just really loves the circus, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Katara has abandonment issues, Post-Canon, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zukos just trying to help, background Sukka - Freeform, ignoring the comics and lok, minor Kataang, minor maiko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemgirl28/pseuds/gemgirl28
Summary: Katara has abandonment issues and Zuko's the only one that notices. So he tries (in his special Zuko way) to help her through it as much as he can.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 72
Kudos: 226





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw this [post](https://gemgirl28.tumblr.com/post/633444541574332416) on tumblr ages ago talking about Katara's abandonment issues and how in light of that, Kataang doesn't make sense. Me being the Zutara trash that I am thought "well of course Aang wouldn't notice, but you know who would? ZUKO" because if this boy could figure out she had connected her anger over losing her mom to her anger at Zuko then he can pick up on her issues. See also [Zuko comes back](https://gemgirl28.tumblr.com/post/633439508744077312/kataras-abandonment-issues-zuko-comes-back) and [Katara shares](https://gemgirl28.tumblr.com/post/633444646672121856/do-yall-ever-think-about-how-katara-shared-the) for more examples of Zuko being there for Katara. So anyways, he's still a dumb teenage boy so the way he tries to help Katara isn't necessarily the most thought out, and that's how this happened. Hope you enjoy!

Out of everyone in the gang, Katara is the one person who can consistently surprise Zuko.

She surprised him with her fiery passion when he had her tied to a tree. She surprised him with her skill as a waterbending master once she found a teacher (i.e. that time she kicked his butt in the North Pole). She surprised him when she offered to heal his Uncle after Azula’s lightning strike. She surprised him when she opened up to him, was vulnerable, and offered to try and heal his scar.

What surprises him the least is when she threatens him after joining the gang. It hurts, sure, but he knows he deserves it (and Zuko is an expert at finding ways he has failed). He works extra hard to earn her trust back, helping with chores around camp, pushing her out of the way of falling rocks, before finally going on a field trip he’s certain he’ll never forget.

(He’s surprised again, to learn about her bloodbending, but at this point all it does is further prove that Zuko absolutely did the right thing by joining the gang.)

What surprises Zuko the most, however, is how much Katara opens up to him after she forgives him. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise him, maybe he should have realized this was always meant to happen, he was always meant to be there for her, and his betrayal in Ba Sing Se only delayed the inevitable.

She no longer fights his offers to help with chores, but accepts and maybe even comes to rely on his help. She no longer holds back her laughter when he makes terrible jokes (and he knows they are terrible, so he’s surprised she’s even laughing, but maybe she has the same terrible sense of humor). She no longer frowns every time she catches him looking at her. Sometimes she even smiles.

Zuko does everything he can to help her out because somehow he’s the only one who sees how much all the mothering she does for the group is truly weighing on her shoulders. He doesn’t realize it until later, years later, but there’s something about taking care of Katara that is almost healing for him.

He does laundry with her, helps cut up vegetables for meals, starts fires for cooking, makes tea to go with dinner (and whenever Katara has trouble sleeping), carries Toph wherever she wants (even though she has long forgiven him for burning her feet, he knows that it keeps Toph out of Katara’s way when she’s mending), and spars with Sokka and Suki to keep them from hanging all over each other in front of Aang and Toph.

(Years later, when he’s being honest with himself, he might realize he did it for Katara, so she wouldn’t have that look of hurt and sad and rejection every time Sokka and Suki’s PDA got out of control.)

In the moments when they work together, they talk. She tells him about growing up with Sokka, about her Gran Gran, about having to fight Pakku just to be able to learn waterbending. Her voice has a wistful tone to it when she shares these memories, like she wishes she could go back, back to a time when all she wanted was to learn to waterbend. When she talks about her mom, he can hear the guilt she’s processing over knowing her mom sacrificed herself to keep Katara safe. He talks about his mom, because he’s trying to process the guilt that’s been hiding in his subconscious since his mom disappeared. It’s just another layer to the tragedies that bond them.

When Katara starts talking about her dad, her voice has an edge that wasn’t there before. It’s the same edge that creeps in whenever she talks about Aang’s habit of disappearing. It isn’t until the day of the comet, when they are flying towards a destiny he’s still not ready to face and she tells him Aang _has_ to come back, that it clicks for him.

Katara has unresolved abandonment issues.

He doesn’t have time to process this, what it means, how he can help her, because suddenly they are landing and he’s fighting his sister for what he knows will be the last time.

(He doesn’t even think, not really, when he jumps in front of that lightning. All he can think about is saving Katara).

In the week of Katara-mandated bedrest before his coronation, he has plenty of time to think, and he decides on a simple solution. He wants Katara to know he will always be there for her, and somewhere in his lightning-rattled mind he decides that means Katara should always know where he is.

(He doesn’t let himself think about the option of her staying, of her staying with _him,_ because Katara deserves the world and he can’t- won’t hold her back from it.)

And for two and a half years after the war ends, he makes sure to tell Katara where he is at all times. When the gang is together, for peace summits or missions fighting rebels or when they finally, _finally,_ find his mother, he simply tells her before anyone else if he has to split off or what his schedule is. When they are apart, him back in the palace and her traveling with Aang, he writes to her constantly. Their letters pick up where they left off in Ember Island, talking about their pasts, but also what they are doing, who they are meeting, how they are both doing their best to work towards peace in this world. In his letters, he makes a point to tell Katara if he’s planning on leaving the palace, and when and where he’ll be going.

(He tries to ignore the hints in her letters that suggest Aang is leaving her feeling alone, abandoned even, now that he has his fan club, because the last thing his heart can take is thinking about why Katara chose Aang over him.)

It seems to work just fine for those two and a half years, but Zuko should have realized Katara would have caught on eventually. And that’s how he ended up getting yelled at, in his office, on what was otherwise a beautiful day.

Officially, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were visiting to negotiate trade deals between the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation. In reality, Sokka wanted to visit Suki and Aang heard the circus was in town. Zuko managed to take one day off from his Fire Lord duties to join them at the circus, but the next day finds himself buried in paperwork in his office. He skips lunch and eats dinner in his office. Just when he finally thinks he’s gotten the mountain of documents down to a hill, he hears a harsh knock on the door. Before he can respond, Katara is already barging in, whirling about in her anger. Zuko panics and immediately inventories the water in his office, ready to hide under his desk if need be.

“What the hell, Zuko?!”

He clears his throat, and goes for the diplomatic approach.

“Good evening, Katara, is there something I can assist you with?”

“Yeah, you can quit treating me like your personal secretary!”

He winces. He certain she knows, but he can’t stop his mouth from spewing, “What do you mean Katara? I don’t understand.”

“WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE LIKE I’M SOME KIND OF SECRETARY?!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before we get into the confrontation, let's see a little of Katara's perspective.

Katara struggles to come up with an explanation for why she trusted Zuko in Ba Sing Se. In the months after, she’s so angry at herself for believing him, believing anyone like him could change, that she lets it fuel her actions. She wakes up to face the Fire Nation because _he_ is a traitor.

When he joins their group, she still doesn’t have an answer. It feels awfully convenient that _he_ would be the only person willing and available to teach Aang firebending. Katara sure isn’t buying anyone’s talk of “destiny”, and she makes sure he knows it, too.

After he takes her to confront her mother’s killer, she starts to wonder again. She trusts him now, and trusted him then. That should be it, right? Maybe that’s as deep as it gets.

She gives a weak answer when Sokka brings it up, after that _awful_ play, and he makes a joke about her being too trusting (Jet being his first example).

She doesn’t like to think about it because she’s afraid of what it means. In the days on Ember Island, she pushes those thoughts and those feelings, _especially the feelings,_ down and focuses on the tasks at hand. Train Aang. Keep everyone fed and clothed. Help make plans. Defeat the Fire Lord.

Somehow, in the middle of the chores, she can’t help but let Zuko in. She’d forgiven him, yes, but that didn’t mean they had to become close. They didn’t have to become friends. But they do.

She tells him about her childhood, and he tells her about his. Katara thinks Ursa sounds like a lovely woman, and she promises to help Zuko find her when this is all over. She struggles to understand his relationship with Azula because as much as Sokka annoys her, she can’t imagine a world where Sokka is her enemy. She feels her heart break when he tells her about his father’s cruelty, and while he never comes out and says it, her heart shatters when she realizes it was Ozai who gave Zuko his scar.

(This hurts her more than she lets him know. Despite her father leaving her and Sokka alone, he _never_ would dare hurt his children.)

Somewhere along the lines, Katara realizes Zuko is afraid of becoming Ozai, and that breaks her heart too. She struggles with guilt over harboring a grudge against him for so long when his own father banished him for three years. Her guilt only intensifies when he jumps in front of that lightning for her.

So she decides to make sure Zuko knows he is _nothing_ like his father.

She spends the week leading up to his coronation with him, healing his chest at intervals, reading to him, talking to him, just watching him rest, and in those moments she can’t fight the feelings that are rising in her, that make her heart ache and stomach flip when he smiles at her.

(She never tells anyone, but she goes to him before the coronation, to tell him, at least once, but never says a word because Mai is already there, Mai is kissing him and she runs, pushes those feelings away _for good,_ and in Ba Sing Se she makes her choice.)

She realizes no one else has picked up on Zuko’s fear. Or if they have, they don’t care enough to do something about it. So she decides she’ll be there for him, as a friend, as much as she can. She thinks it’s going to be hard, trying to get Zuko to understand their differences without directly referencing Ozai. Fortunately for Katara, there are plenty of times Ozai is brought up in conversation. Any time Ozai’s cruelty is mentioned, Katara rounds out the conversation with Zuko’s acts of kindness. When an Earth Kingdom official asks Zuko if he was really banished for three years, Katara tells the story of the Boiling Rock. When his councilmen question Zuko’s strength against Ozai’s, Katara tells them how hard he worked to earn her trust. When someone inevitably asks about his scar, and he admits it was his father that gave it to him, Katara reminds him of how much he carried around Toph after accidentally burning her feet.

She does this for a year, in person and over letters, as she travels with Aang. She prays that no one notices her giving special attention to Zuko or to the fact that she writes to him more often than anyone else. She convinces herself that even if they did notice, all she was doing was being a caring friend to someone who clearly had a lot of trauma to overcome.

(She _never_ lets herself think about Aang catching on because if he did would he be able to see through his own jealousy to recognize his own faults? Katara knows the answer and therefore doesn’t allow this thought.)

She becomes paranoid though, after the first anniversary of Zuko’s coronation, when five different people ask her in the span of an hour if she knows where Zuko is. She does, he’s in his office, like always, but she worries. She relaxes when Aang takes her home to help with rebuilding. At home no one seems to find it odd that she gets more letters from the Fire Lord than her own boyfriend.

It comes to a head, though, when they are back in the Fire Nation two and a half years after the end of the war for trade deals. Really, Sokka just missed Suki and Aang wanted to see the circus and Katara wanted- Well, she didn’t want to think about what she wanted. She was having a great time at the circus, following Aang from booth to booth, joining Suki in teasing Sokka about all the food he was eating, seeing Zuko relax outside of the palace. But throughout the day, anytime someone can’t find Zuko, they ask her where he is. It’s so bad one of his guards asks her, rather sheepishly, when Zuko had just snuck off for another bag of fire flakes. She writes it off as being the mother of the group, but even that feels like a lie.

The next day she decides she can’t take it anymore. Aang asked her no less than twelve times where Zuko was over the course of two hours and she decides she is done. When they finish dinner, she storms into his office.

It’s almost amusing, how terrified he looks when she bursts through the door, and for a moment he very much looks like an overwhelmed teenager just doing his best. Then she remembers her reasons for being angry, and forges ahead.

“What the hell, Zuko?!” she shouts. She almost feels bad for disturbing him while he’s working.

“Good evening, Katara, is there something I can assist you with?”

“Yeah, you can quit treating me like your personal secretary!” She ignores the way he flinches at her words.

“What do you mean Katara? I don’t understand.”

“WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE LIKE I’M SOME KIND OF SECRETARY?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I love any comments and feedback!! Also, come say hi on tumblr @gemgirl28


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara confronts Zuko and makes some choices.

_“WHY DO YOU ALWAYS TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE LIKE I’M SOME KIND OF SECRETARY?!”_

Zuko sighed and rubbed his temples, already feeling a headache forming. He picks his words carefully.

“I can assure you, Katara, I never intended for you to feel like I was using you. You are a Master of your bending, and one of my closest friends. I would never treat you like a secretary.”

“So then WHY do you always tell me, and apparently only me, where you are going? What gives, Zuko?!”

He gestured for her to sit and after a moment she does, fury still written in her features. He stands and comes around the desk, sitting on the edge as he faces her.

“Do you remember, back when we were hiding on Ember Island, all the stories you told me? About your family and friends?”

She nods, confusion starting to cloud her anger.

“When you talked about your dad, and Aang, I might have… read a little into those conversations. And made an assumption about you.”

“And what did you assume?” she asks. The venom is still in her voice, but it’s softer now.

“That,” he clears his throat, “that you have abandonment issues.”

The confusion is replaced by a look of pure shock. She stares at him, mouth slightly agape, for a few minutes. “I… You… Abandonment issues?” she stutters, struggling to string together a full sentence.

He nods, trying to be as gentle as he can. “I know you forgave him, but when you talked about your dad leaving you and Sokka it sounded like something that still really hurt you.” He bites his lip, debating his next words before pressing on. “It was the same way you talked about Aang running off.”

There is a sadness creeping into her features. All he wants to do is hold her, apologize, do anything to make her feel better. Instead he sits, waiting for her reaction.

“So you’ve… you decided that telling me where you are would help?”

“I know it’s probably all messed up, but I thought if you always knew where I was, you would know I’m always here for you.”

She takes in a sudden breath, before looking down and fiddling with an imaginary thread on her skirt. “Aang never…” she trails off. She doesn’t finish the thought, but she doesn’t have to. Zuko understands.

“I’m sorry. Like I said, I never meant for you to feel like I was using you. I just wanted you to know, I’m not going anywhere.”

She looks up at him, then, a small smile tugging at her lips. She seems to be searching for any traces of lying in his features, but when she doesn’t find it her smile widens.

“I forgive you, Zuko. I guess I should be thanking you. I think your execution is poor, but I appreciate the fact that you cared enough to think of me that way,” she says. She suddenly looks shy, and looks away, fiddling with her skirt again. “Besides, I’ve sort of been doing the same thing for you. Except, you don’t have abandonment issues.”

It’s Zuko’s turn to be surprised. “What?! What are you talking about?!”

“I sort of, when you talked about your family, realized… you’re afraid of becoming like Ozai. At least, that’s what it seemed like to me. So I, uh, I make sure I point out your differences whenever I can.”

Zuko’s mind was reeling. Everything she was saying made sense, but it had never occurred to him until that moment to connect the dots. Suddenly it all clicked. All the times she defended him, in front of council men, ambassadors, dignitaries, even Aang. All of the letters, their conversations, it all hit him. But why would she do that? When no one else cared to notice his insecurities?

“Mai never…” he trailed off, and he knows he doesn’t have to finish that sentence because Katara understands better than anyone in the world what it’s like to be with someone who chooses to ignore pieces of you.

Katara reaches to grab and squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry, Zuko, I didn’t mean to cross any lines.”

He let out a short bark of laughter. “Katara you have nothing to apologize for. If anything I should be thanking you. You’ve been subtly helping me overcome my biggest fear for two and half years. Although, now that you mention it, maybe it wasn’t so subtle after all.”

She laughs. “And you telling me your schedule for the day at breakfast when I was two seats away from you was subtle?”

“Touché.”

They sit for a moment, both contemplating their revelations, before Katara stands and hugs him. He sinks into her embrace, and for just a moment he lets himself enjoy the feeling of _home_ that comes from her touch. She pulls away far too early for his liking and heads to the door, but pauses before she leaves. “Hey Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

“I think the fact that you care enough about me to do something as ridiculous as turning me into your secretary should prove to you that you are nothing like Ozai. He would never care like that.”

He pauses, letting her words sink in. “I think you’re right.”

She nods. “Good night, Zuko,” she whispers. And then she is gone.

He doesn’t find out until lunch the next day that after she left his office, she went to find Aang and broke up with him, and had boarded a ship that morning for the Northern Water Tribe. He panics that Aang will find out about their conversation, that he could try and blame Zuko for the breakup. He figures Katara didn’t mention it, though, because Aang keeps switching from anger that Katara was jealous of the Air Acolytes, and sadness because she was his “forever girl.” Sokka and Suki do their best to cheer him up, but Zuko tries to encourage Aang to understand Katara’s point of view.

He finally gets a letter a week later, and when he reads it he feels a tightness in his chest he didn’t realize was there start to relax.

_Dear Zuko,_

_I know what you’re thinking, and no, I did not break up with Aang because of what you said. I mean, in a way your words were the final push, but I haven’t been happy with Aang for a while now. I’m tired of being treated like my greatest accomplishment in life is dating the Avatar. I’m not sure I got Aang to understand that, so I’m sorry if you had to deal with him after I left._

_I’ve decided to continue my training as a healer. I think it’s the best use of my talents right now. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But I’m rather excited about the idea that it’s my choice now._

_I hope you aren’t too mad at me for leaving without telling you. I needed to catch the ship before anyone could convince me to stay._

_Yours,_

_Katara_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate your comments and feedback!!! Seriously, this is a hobby for me (and by and large a coping mechanism for the shitshow that is 2020) but I do want to get better and I do want to interact with people who are into Zutara and ATLA. You can always say hi on tumblr as well @gemgirl28


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara makes her own way.

Katara isn’t exactly thrilled to return to the Northern Water Tribe, but she recognizes it as the best place to continue her healing training, so she arrives and finds Yugoda and asks to join her healing lessons.

Katara did her best to ignore the voices that followed her everywhere she went, but she still heard them. She heard them say she was stupid for leaving the Avatar. She heard them question her sanity and pride for leaving someone so powerful. She heard them mock her for returning to become a healer after she had fought Pakku to learn to fight.

She couldn’t ignore it anymore when Hahn, the man who didn’t deserve Yue to begin with, openly mocked her as she was getting food from a street vendor one day. So she did the only thing she’d ever done and fought him. Hahn wasn’t a bender, so she only used hand to hand, but thanks to Suki’s lesson she had him on his back, begging for mercy, in under five minutes. She didn’t hear people say anything about her after that, but she knew they were just being more careful not to speak up in her presence.

Her healing lessons went well enough. Katara was a hard worker and, with proper instruction, a fast learner. She found pride in knowing she would be able to make a difference with her skills. She proved her worth time and time again, any time there was a hunting accident or a baby being born or someone got sick.

The only things Katara truly looked forward to are her letters from her friends. Sokka and Suki wrote to her every other week. Their letters were fun because Sokka often left stupid things he did out of his letters, but Suki always filled in the gaps. Toph used a scribe to write her letters monthly. She keeps Katara updated on her metal bending academy, and her progress in the Earth Rumble tournaments. There was always a line or two about her parents, and Katara did her best to encourage Toph to keep trying with them. They all gave her small updates about Aang, just to let her know he was safe. Well, everyone but Zuko.

Zuko’s letters came weekly, and they were just like before, except that they weren’t. Zuko still talked about his family, about Azula’s progress now that Ursa was there to help, about Uncle’s visits that were never long enough and always filled with constant tea breaks, about feeding the turtleducks with his mom again.

But now he was also asking her tough questions, questions she knew she needed to answer, but had avoided while she was with Aang. What did she want to do for the rest of her life? What was she going to do when she was done training in the North Pole? Where did she want to go next?

She couldn’t be mad, because she asked him about things that were tough for him as well. Had he overcome his fear of becoming Ozai? How was he really handling having his mother back after so long? Would he ever forgive Azula?

They somehow maintained light banter in these letters, amongst the heavy questions. He had quite a few jokes about her fighting Hahn. And because he trusted her, he started asking her opinion on political matters more and more. Never for anything that needed an immediate response, but if he knew his council was bringing something up in the coming weeks he’d ask her opinion on the topic.

(She was not good, nope not at all, at not remembering that Aang had _never_ asked her opinion on politics, had just blindly assumed that she’d agree with whatever Aang said).

From his letters she gets the idea to learn medicine from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. Something about Iroh’s belief that wisdom should be pulled from all the nations. With a recommendation from Yugoda (and she later finds out, Zuko), she is accepted to study at Ba Sing Se University. So after seven months in the North Pole, she travels to the walled city.

She spends her days studying, learning herbal healing, and spends her nights at the infirmaries in the lower ring, using a mix of what she’s learned and her waterbending to heal those who need it the most. It’s exhausting, but so fulfilling, and for the first time in a long time, Katara is excited to get up each day.

Whenever she can, she visits Iroh (Uncle, he insists every time she forgets), and she laughs at his stories about Zuko’s childhood, stories that she’s certain would have Zuko combusting on the spot from embarrassment if he knew Uncle told her.

When she had been in Ba Sing Se for three months, Toph comes to visit her. They go to the Fancy Lady Day Spa out of nostalgia. She’s so happy to see the younger girl, but she can’t shake the feeling that there’s someone else she misses more, someone she wishes would visit but she would never ask. When she and Toph visit Uncle for tea and stories, she gets the feeling they know more than she will let herself admit.

Before her 10-month program is over, Katara begins planning her travels through the Fire Nation. She decides that since she has had a formal education from the Earth Kingdom, she wants a hands-on experience in the Fire Nation. She plans to travel the islands, staying in the larger cities to learn their methods, but will spend far more time traveling the smaller villages, hopefully using her skills for good.

She has already booked her airship to Omashu when she finds out it leaves the day _after_ a peace summit begins in Ba Sing Se, a summit that everyone from the gang will be attending. She debates changing her ticket to leave earlier, but she already told Zuko and Sokka the date in her letters. She decides that she’s excited to see everyone and catch up with them before her journey.

(Really it was Zuko that convinced her. He said “please” and “I miss you” and she realizes there are very few things she wouldn’t do for him if he only asks).

She spends the day packing, only planning on seeing everyone at dinner, before she leaves the next day. Sokka still comes and finds her after lunch, and she is glad to have some time just with him. For so long it was just the two of them, and she doesn’t admit it out loud but sometimes she misses her brother so much it hurts.

He escorts her to dinner, where she hugs Suki, awkwardly side hugs Aang, and gets a classic punch from Toph. Before she can ask where _he_ is, she hears him behind her.

“Hi, Katara,” he rasps. She whirls around and her heart leaps out of her chest.

“Zuko,” she breathes. She blinks and she is hugging him and he’s hugging her, and she never wants to let go, but somehow she does.

Dinner goes about as well as it could have, all things considered. She sits between Zuko and Sokka, but Aang pulls her away after dinner. They have an awkward hushed conversation in the hallway, but she thinks he _finally_ gets it. He promises that he’ll focus more on rebuilding their friendship.

She’s repacking her last bag when she hears a soft knock, and she’s so glad to see it’s Zuko. They go for a walk, and keep easy conversation. For a few moments she pretends they are back on Ember Island, chatting in between chores. But she can tell something is bothering him, and he finally turns to her with a grim tone in his voice.

“I wanted your opinion on something the council is going to bring up when I get back,” he begins, and she notices how nervous he looks.

“What is it, Zuko?”

“They want to know when I’m going to marry Mai. They’re concerned about heirs, or so they say.”

“Oh.” _Mai. Of course._ “And you don’t want to get married?”

“Not now, no.”

She bites her lip to steel her nerves before asking, “Do you not want to get married because they are pressuring you too early? Or because you don’t want to marry Mai?”

His silence is all the answer she needs. She nods, and collects her thoughts.

(Mai, the one topic that he never mentioned in his letters. She could pretend their relationship wasn’t real when she read his letters. Maybe it wasn’t. She found the fact that he always left her out rather telling).

“I guess I understand their concern for heirs, though you said Azula is making great progress. But Zuko,” she stops and grabs his arm, turning him to face her, “you’ve already made so many personal sacrifices for your country, and I think that’s amazing, but I think love is the one thing they should let you have. If you don’t want to get married right now, you shouldn’t.”

He gives her an odd look, a look she can’t read, but finally smiles and hugs her. “Thanks for your wisdom, Katara.”

She boards the airship the next day without saying goodbye to anyone else. She can’t risk anyone asking her to stay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is pacing? lol I hope this didn't feel too rushed since we have some time jumps going on here, but we are almost there!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is in the Fire Nation and Zuko is in his feels about it.

Zuko waits until he gets back from the summit to break up with Mai. She’s furious, after all he did promise not to break up with her again, but by the end she admits it’s for the best. She leaves for Kyoshi the next day.

He stays up all night trying to write a declaration to notify the council of his decision to marry for love that doesn’t sound like he’s a lovesick turtleduck, but nothing ever sounds right. He ends up issuing a decree that he would marry whoever he wanted, when he wanted, because he was the Fire Lord and the next person to bring up the topic would be kicked off the council. He knows they aren’t happy but they have no choice but to keep their grumblings to themselves.

By that time, he finally has a letter from Katara. She had made it to Omashu, and was going to spend more time there than originally planned because of an outbreak. He isn’t surprised when she doesn’t make it to the Fire Nation for another month, for all the villages she saved along the way.

He is surprised that she starts with a small fishing village, Jang Hui, and it takes him five letters (and three cross-referencing with Sokka) to learn the story of how she dressed up as the Painted Lady and saved the village. He does his best not to linger on the feelings that arise at the realization that Katara was saving his people even when they were her enemy. It’s hard enough to deal with the fact that she is in _his_ country, traveling to save _his_ people, and he’s not with her. She feels so close, and yet never further away.

He is bolder with his letters, or at least he thinks he is (he’s never been good with words), but he doesn’t fight to keep his growing feelings from making their way onto the pages. He tries not to read into it when the tone of her letters seem to change, too.

(But he fails, oh Agni he fails).

They plan to cross paths three times, but each time falls apart for some reason or another. First Katara is kept by a baby that decides to arrive a full week later than expected. Then Zuko has an emergency security meeting, after the new Ozai Society almost breaks Ozai out. Then a storm keeps their ships from reaching land at the same time.

He realizes he’s running out of chances when she tells him she’s considering heading home, to the Southern Water Tribe, to see her family. She’s not sure what she’ll do from there, but it’s been a long time since she’s been home.

He convinces her to spend a week in the Capital with him before she goes home, under the guise of relaxing after all her travels before working at home.

(Really he would say anything, would do anything, to get her to come, to stay, but he doesn’t admit that).

He meets her at the docks, and she sprints into his arms for a hug. He picks her up and whirls her around and she is laughing and he decides that her laughter is more beautiful than any music he’s ever heard.

(He thinks he should care that she has this power over him, the power to make him forget all his formal Fire Lord etiquette and whirl her around. But he doesn’t).

He carves out every free minute possible to spend with Katara. They spar every morning, and he is thankful to have a sparring partner that won’t hold back on him (though he almost regrets it when on the fifth day she royally kicks his butt, but she heals the bruises and he doesn’t even care how much it hurts, he’ll suffer anything to have her healing hands on him). He has breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her. He invites her to council meetings because he already trusts her more than half his council combined. He openly laughs when an advisor suggests she shouldn’t be attending the meetings because she’s a girl. He laughs even harder when she ices the advisor to the wall. He wonders what it means that he’s glad to see her fight someone that isn’t him (though it wasn’t much of a fight, if he’s being honest. No one really stands a chance against Katara).

When she’s not with him, she’s with his mother, making rounds at the hospital. He hears nothing but praises from the doctors about their work. And he tries not to blush too hard when his mother praises Katara for her work _and_ her beauty.

The week is almost over before he knows it, but the night before she leaves, he gets a report of a rebel outbreak. He tells her he hates to keep her from her family, but he could really use her help. She accepts, and together they successfully disband a rebel group, she heals all the wounded, and they replace the corrupt governor that allowed the rebellion to happen in the first place.

By the time they return to the palace, it’s almost the fifth anniversary of his coronation, and he convinces her to stay for the gala his Uncle and Mother insist on throwing. The gang descends on the Capital, and he is glad to see his friends again. But dignitaries come as well, and his heart sinks when he has to greet Chief Hakoda because he knows he will take Katara with him when he leaves.

Somehow he manages to distract himself from that thought, and enjoy his last days with her. He decides to use the gala as his one chance to tell her how he feels, to present himself as an option in her list of things to consider when she goes home. He plans a surprise, and prays every day to Agni that it is enough.

The day of the gala he barely sees her at breakfast before she is whisked away to be pampered and prepped. His preparations begin after lunch, and he is dressed in the full Fire Lord Regalia (which has been redesigned to look more modern, a subtle suggestion from Katara so he doesn’t feel like he looks like Ozai). He stands at the entrance to the ballroom, greeting guests formally, but when he sees her he finds he can’t speak (or breathe).

She has always been beautiful, but tonight in a red and blue gown, with her hair pulled up in a style that isn’t quite Fire Nation but isn’t quite Water Tribe either, he can see how much the years have made her _gorgeous._ Gone is the girl who became an unexpected ally, and before him is the woman he has fallen in love with.

(It’s the first time he admits it to himself, and he doesn’t even care anymore, he realizes he gave his heart to her a long time ago).

As soon as everyone is in the ballroom, he reveals the first part of his surprise. He presents Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Aang with medals to thank them for their actions in ending the Hundred Years War. He gives a speech before presenting each medal about their actions, and he doesn’t even pretend to care that he says twice as much about Katara as anyone else.

After the banquet, Aang opens the floor for dancing, and Zuko manages to dance with Katara three times, each time more passionate than the last, before she is whisked away by her father, her brother, Aang, and everyone else. But he doesn’t let it bother him because he has one more surprise planned.

Before the last dance, he steals her away to the gardens, and they sit in front of the turtleduck pond for a few moments, enjoying the cool from the night. The moon is full and he sends a prayer to Yue for extra luck before pulling out a small box from his robes.

“I have something for you,” he says, hoping he sounds more confident than he feels.

“Oh, you mean besides this?” she teases, playing with her medal.

“Yes. I uhm, I thought the medals were overdue. They are my gift, a recognition of your past. You have done so much good in your life. For the world, for the Nations, for me.”

She looks up, her expression softening, and his heart melts.

“This,” he hands her the box, “this is my hope, really a wish, for your future, for- for our future. That you’ll keep saving the world, and keep saving me.”

She gives him a curious look before opening the small box. She fishes the crown from the box and gasps, shock spreading across her features. He had it custom made, the gold shaped into a crescent moon over waves, but it is distinctly a Fire Nation crown.

“Zuko is this…? Are you…?”

He laughs to hide his nervousness. “I’m not proposing to you, Katara, not yet. Not that I would if you don’t want me to! But I would be a fool to not tell you how I feel. I’m in love with you, Katara, and I want to spend my life with you. I have no doubt that whatever you decide to do with your life, you will have a huge impact on the world. But I would love it, if someday, you wanted to make that impact with me. I can’t ask you to stay with me, because I would never want you to feel like I’m keeping you here. I just, I want you to know it’s an option. That I’d wait for you, if you wanted.”

“Oh Zuko,” she reaches up and cups his scarred side, and he leans into her touch, “Zuko, you are so much more than an option.” And then she kisses him, and he’s frozen for a moment, surprised that Katara is actually kissing him, but it only lasts a moment before he’s returning the kiss, one hand cupping her head and the other around her waist, pulling her closer.

She breaks the kiss and pulls back, her eyes full of passion and love and he is hers, only hers. “I love you, Zuko.” He blinks in disbelief.

“Wh-What?” he splutters. She laughs, and he doesn’t care that she’s laughing at him.

“I love you, Zuko. I love you.” And by the third time he finally believes it and he is grinning before he is kissing her again.

She still leaves the next day with her father, but she takes the crown with her as a promise. Four months later she writes that Gran Gran isn’t doing well, and he decides it’s past time for him to visit the Southern Water Tribe. He tries not to feel guilty about using the trip as a way to ask for Hakoda’s blessing, but it fades when he sees Katara.

(Hakoda gives him his blessing. The chief knew Katara would always do what Katara wanted, and while he’s sad to see her go, he’s glad she’ll now be in one place consistently to visit).

It’s a bittersweet trip. Getting to spend time with Katara’s family, her people, with her, makes him happier than he’s been in ages. But when Gran Gran passes, he mourns with Katara, and his heart breaks seeing her hurt.

They leave together a week later. When they board the ship, he asks Katara if she’s sure, if she’s ready, if she really wants him (because he still can’t believe how lucky he is to have her love), and she just holds his cheek and tells him, yes, she’s sure. Her next words have his heart swelling, and if he wasn’t already convinced his heart was hers to break, he was sure now.

“Let’s go home, Zuko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have me in my feels with your comments! I love reading each and every one of them. They truly make my day but also help me notice things I didn't realize.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara moves to the Fire Nation.

Katara had fallen in love with the Fire Nation even before Zuko asked her to make it their home. She loved the people, the warmth, the landscapes.

(Sometimes she feels guilty that she has fallen in love with the place, the people that took her mother, that waged war for a Hundred Years, but then she remembers it was a handful of crazy royals that did that, and that empty, sad man, not Zuko, not his people).

She’s surprised at how easily the Fire Nation accepts her, no matter how many times Zuko tells her she’s done more than enough for his people to love her. Sure, there’s a few grumpy council men, some upset (rejected) noble women, but for the most part, her transition to life in the palace is easy.

Zuko says he has no expectation for her becoming a traditional Fire Lady and lets her choose what she wants to do (it’s one of her top ten things she loves about him), so she spends her days filling them with work she is passionate about. She visits hospitals and infirmaries with Ursa. She visits orphanages where she plays with kids and brings them food. She sits in on council meetings where she can voice her ideas, like setting up a formal adoption process that would help streamline matching kids with families, or creating a taskforce to research and eliminate factory pollution, or adding healing and fighting to education reforms.

She spends her meals and evenings with Zuko and falls more in love with him each day. She loves being his refuge at the end of a long day. She loves how he challenges her to be a better person, how he supports her becoming the best version of herself she can be.

He formally proposes to her a year after she’s lived in the palace. He’s nervous and stammering, as if her answer would be anything but yes, but he gets down on one knee in front of the turtleduck pond and presents her with a ring (that’s how they do it in the Fire Nation and he wouldn’t _dare_ replace her mother’s necklace). She says yes, of course, the answer was always yes, and kisses him, tears of joy slipping down both their faces.

They get married a year later (planning a ceremony for the Fire Lord is always time consuming but doing so while trying to combine two literal opposing elements into a fusion ceremony? They almost run off and elope five times), but it’s all worth it when the day finally rolls around. Aang performs the ceremony with the Fire Sages, and Hakoda gives the blessing before the banquet. Everyone they love is there.

They spend a week honeymooning on Ember Island, in his family’s house, the place where they both realize everything changed. It’s a perfect week of relaxing, exploring the island, and exploring their love.

They set off on a tour of the Nation before heading back to the Capital. They follow a similar plan to when she had traveled on her own, learning and healing his, now their, country. Somehow, even two years later, people remember her everywhere they go. She laughs when people stiffen and bow formally to the Fire Lord, because to her he is just Zuko, her Zuko, the nervous, awkward boy who loves her. In every town she is greeted as an old friend and he like a foreign ruler, but by the time they leave they are both treated like family, with hugs and kisses on cheeks instead of bows.

A year after they return from their tour, Katara finds out she is pregnant. She waits two weeks to tell Zuko, waiting both to make sure the baby is ok and to figure out how to tell him. She ends up bursting it out over dinner one night because she just can’t keep it to herself anymore. She can see the nervousness in his eyes but it’s nothing compared to the excitement and awe he has as he picks her up and holds her, reverently kissing and rubbing her stomach.

(She swears she’s never going to have another one of his kid’s because he treats her like a damn porcelain doll for nine months, but when she sees the way he holds Izumi, she knows she would do it all again for him).

She teases him for naming their golden-eyed daughter “water”, but later names their blue-eyed son Kaen. She tells him it’s because their love was shaped under a blazing comet.

Katara’s favorite days are when her family visit (because the gang stopped being friends a long time ago, she realized). Balancing being the Fire Lord and Fire Lady and parents is hard, but it’s easier when her family is there to help. Iroh and Hakoda seem to have a competition for who can spoil her kids the most. She loves seeing her kids playing with their cousins (because Sokka _finally_ got his head out of his ass and married Suki and their kids are adorable). She rolls her eyes but will never tell how much she loves seeing her husband swap bad jokes with her brother. And she loves watching as Toph and Aang fall in love.

There is always work to do in rebuilding the world, but Katara makes Zuko take a vacation one week a year to go to Ember Island. Some years their family join them, other years it’s just the four of them. When Izumi and Kaen are old enough to decide they don’t want to vacation with their parents anymore, Katara and Zuko go by themselves. Their days are spent relaxing on the beach, her lazily bending and him just enjoying the quiet. He doesn’t judge her when the quiet oppression of the house leaves her sobbing on their third day. He simply holds her, and she loves him even more for it.

(She’s certain he threatens everyone into coming the next year, even if it’s just for a few days, because from that year out they aren’t alone for more than a day, but he’ll never admit it and so she doesn’t bother asking).

During one of these visits, the kids finally ask for the full story of how their parents met. There’s an awkward silence before Sokka begins a very exaggerated tale, and everyone else has to chime in periodically to correct him. Katara whispers encouragements into Zuko’s ears when they talk about his time chasing them, falling into her old habit of proving he was nothing like Ozai. When she tries to downplay the significance of her starting a rebellion or her actions in Jang Hui, Zuko speaks up for her. The kids ask questions that lead to other side stories, and no one notices how late it is until the story is over. They all shuffle off to bed, but Izumi lingers, a curious look on her eyes as she appraises her parents. She finally sighs and tells them, “I just can’t imagine a world where you guys were ever enemies.” Katara simply hugged her daughter and wished her good night, before dragging her husband to bed.

Zuko was unusually quiet as they changed into their night clothes and hunkered under the covers. He drew her close to him and finally spoke.

“Do you ever think about it?”

“Hmmmmm?”

“About us. About our beginning.”

She rolled over to face her husband, cupping his scarred cheek like she had done all those years ago, surrounded by green crystals. She reflects for a moment and realizes that no, she hadn’t thought about those early days, of him chasing them around the world, in such a long time. The memories almost feel like a dream. She smiles and kisses him gently before answering.

“I’m reminded of our beginning every year when we come here. Because for me, our story began with those chats as we did chores together.”

He smiles and kisses her. She knows that twenty years ago, he wouldn’t have seen the truth in her words. But after all their time together, helping each other overcome their war trauma, growing together, and building a family together, he can finally believe her.

As she drifts off to sleep, she thinks she knows that this is why she trusted him in Ba Sing Se, that this is why they were meant to meet. They were always meant to fall in love, it just took them a while to figure it out.

But Katara wouldn’t change a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it folks!! I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it and getting your feedback! Each and every one of your comments have put a smile on my face! If you enjoyed the fluffy, domestic, head over heels in love Zutara that is quickly becoming my brand, I've got a series of one shots with their steambabies I plan to start posting next week! And in the mean time I've got a fun protest meetcute story I'll probably post on Saturday.
> 
> Anyways, thanks again for all your feedback! As always, feel free to come say hi on tumblr @gemgirl28


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